Keep the Tail Wagging is supported by pet parents. I occasionally earn a commission (at no additional cost to you) when you click through an affiliate link to one of my favorite products. Thank you for your support. Read More
Did you catch Rodney Habib's Facebook Live today? It started out talking about grain-free kibble, so I was listening, but I was listening while working.
And then I heard “raw feeding”, and my ears perked up. He stated that if we're storing our raw for more than three months, we're going to see a decline in taurine, which has the potential of leading to heart issues in our beloved pets. Before we start freaking out and tossing everything from the freezer, I think it's important to take a step back and consider what this means for our dogs.
Does DIY Raw have a Taurine Deficiency?
I buy raw in bulk, and I store my raw for up to a year. Many raw feeders, to save money, are sourcing much of their raw from people who plan to do a freezer dump (tossing old meat from their freezer).
But…my dog's raw diet is balanced!
Or is it?
Honestly, I don't think any diet is 100% balanced. The only guides used to determine what our dogs need nutritionally are based on kibble diets, not fresh food. I think we can get close, but we're all doing our best.
Benefits of Taurine for Dogs
Although dogs do create taurine in their system, some breeds are predisposed to taurine deficiencies and dogs with heart conditions may need additional support as well. Taurine is important for dogs because it…
- Helps to build and strengthen the heart muscle
- Prevents muscle degeneration
- Prevents arrhythmias (improper beating of the heart)
- Supports eye/vision health
Signs of a Taurine Deficiency in Dogs
The following are signs of taurine deficiency in dogs…
- Weakness and fatigue
- Fainting or collapsing
- Excessive panting without exercise or extreme heat
- Pain in the abdominal area
- Pain when urinating; blood in the urine
- Blindness
One of our dogs experiences excessive panting without exercise or extreme heat. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, he's a hot dog. I feed him cooling proteins (rabbit, pork, duck), but what if he needs more taurine? After learning about these symptoms, I began adding more heart (chicken, duck, pork, and beef) to his diet.
Bi-annual checkups are important as well and his veterinarians haven't picked up any issues with his heart.
Foods Rich in Taurine
Other foods that I'm adding to my dogs' diet include:
- Raw sardines (or canned sardines, BPA free, no salt added)
- Liver
- Heart
- pasture-raised eggs
- raw goat's milk and kefir
- fermented fish bone broth
You can also find taurine in seaweed, sunflower seeds, and spirulina – however, the amounts are minimal compared to animal protein sources.
That being said, the above foods may not be enough if your dog has a taurine deficiency and supplementation may be necessary. A great product is Taurine Boost by Herbsmith.
Is a Taurine Supplement Necessary?
Before buying a supplement for your dog, check in with your veterinarian to confirm that it's necessary. Taurine isn't more important than other nutrients and all nutrients work together to keep our dogs healthy. If we begin to over-supplement in areas, we do more harm than good.
Despite all of the news about grain-free diets and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), there has been no evidence that feeding grain-free (and this includes raw) will lead to DCM.
More Sources for Canine Nutrition
If you want to delve deeper into your dog's diet and make sure that s/he is getting all of the nutrients necessary to live a healthy life, I highly recommend investing in the following materials:
- 5 Things You Need to Know About Taurine (FREE), Herbsmith, Inc.
- The potential protective effects of taurine on coronary heart disease (FREE) – includes a chart showing taurine levels in various foods.
- Dr. Becker's Real Food For Healthy Dogs and Cats: Simple Homemade Food
- Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet: Healthier Dog Food the ABC Way, Steve Brown
- K9 Kitchen Your Dogs' Diet: The Truth Behind the Hype
If you think your dog may have a taurine deficiency or a heart problem, please seek the advice of your veterinarian.
So how does the animal decaying before frozen effect the food for your dog ? Thanks
Thank you for your work and keeping us updated on this stuff
I think that it’s possible to over give on any supplement, so I look for supplements that are meant for pets. Herbsmith now has one called Taurine Boost: https://amzn.to/2MbSMu5
Can you over give on the taurine supplement. I feed raw. But want to know my saluki is getting enough. If I added a supplement of taurine could it be harmful if It was too much?
Lots of evidence in the human Keto world for the poisons grain contains….nature’s defense against being eaten !
Hi Olivia…
I don’t know the answer to this question. My best recommendation is to research the nutrient list of sardines, calculate how much taurine is in it per mg, and compare that to the amount of taurine your dog needs on a daily or weekly basis. Best.
After all the rhetoric around taurine deficiency in dogs we have caved and started adding canned sardines (in spring water with no added salt) to our dogs diet. We have been giving him two very large sardines a day. Is this too much? How much sardine meat should a dog of 20kg (44 pounds) be getting daily to give them enough taurine in their diet.
If you’re hooked on Acana, try the Atlantic Fish or Mackarel variety. The white fish (along with sweet potato and squash) are very effective for dogs with “allergies”. Also good source of taurine, omega 3, etc. White fish and these vegetables are the basis of elimination diets.
You might want to read this article…It specifically references Acana foods…
I’m exhausted from attempts to feed my dog a healthy diet – just like human food, right when you think you’ve got it all figured out, there’s something that will kill you. I’m a vegetarian and my diet keeps me at a consistent weight and I always have enough protein, but at my physical my doctor told me i need to stop eating cheese as it’s “adult candy” – that’s like 40% of my diet. Now, after finally finding foods that I thought were healthy and that my dog will eat (he’s super picky), turns out they may be taurine deficient…he eats only the lamb formula of a combo of Acana kibble and Primal freeze dried nuggets because he’s allergy-prone, but seems like lamb has very little taurine. I wrote the companies to see what they say. It’s pointless asking our vet, the only food they ever recommend is Hill’s Science Diet! It would be nice if there was an actual, dependable authority on pet food.
You can reach out to Answers Pet Food here: https://www.answerspetfood.com/contact-us.html
Um, I think we would need sources on these supposed “anti-nutrients.” That’s a heck of a statement to make without backing it up.
Thank you, JoAnn! How are you and your gorgeous dogs? Facebook has changed their algorithms and I noticed a few days ago that I haven’t seen anything from you in ages. PS – Scout is an adult now and swims nearly every day. I say this because that was one of the things I loved was seeing pictures of your dogs swimming.
Great information, thanks for sharing,
If I were to use the powder form of Taurine, I’d use this one by NOW. I know that they have a line of supplements by with Dr. Barbara Royal. But I don’t think that they have a pet taurine supplement, so I’d go with the powder supplement for humans because I do trust the company: https://amzn.to/2uv2RGq
How do you feel about powder form of supplementing Taurine?
(For the more extreme, diagnosed cases of heart disease, etc)
Taurine is an non-essential amino acid – it’s a conditional amino acid – most dogs can produce it.
The lack of taurine is typically associated with a disease and it can be breed related.
But hey, it’s the only amino acid which has a zodiac!
See
Differences in Taurine Synthesis Rate among Dogs Relate to Differences in Their Maintenance Energy Requirement
https://academic.oup.com/jn/article/137/5/1171/4664573
Taurine is most abundant in the brain, heart,eyes and muscle.
My dog gets kidney, liver, heart and a head with the brain and eyes everyday.
The only thing I micro-manage in my dogs diet are body parts.
Also, animals – unlike most plants – start decaying as soon as they’re killed,
So the meat could easily have been in a freezer for 30 days before you even buy the meat,
Hence, in order to know if your meat is more 30 days old you would need to know when it was killed.
— Cinaed